Virgen: Seabold shined for Sailors

When Newport Harbor High junior Cade Seabold stepped up to the plate with the bat in his hands this season it was truly remarkable in so many ways.

He ended up leading the Sunset League with a .565 batting average. Did you see the pitching in that league?

It didn’t really seem to matter to Seabold.

“My mentality: I don’t care who’s on the mound,” said Seabold, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound right fielder who earned first-team All-Sunset League honors this past season for the Sailors. “If you’re up there … they’re all the same. I mean, obviously there are some big-name guys in our league and you have to respect that. But it’s just trying to go out there and put the ball in play. Finding the hole. Really just trying to get on base. I was just trying to keep it simple. Nothing more. Nothing less. Trying to get the next guy up.”

Keeping things simple proved to be important for Seabold, who finished No. 2 in the league voting for the Sunset League MVP. Just this past August, his mother died from cancer.

Seabold said baseball has been an outlet and his teammates have been there for him as a strong source of support.

“I just come out here and forget everything that goes on outside,” he told me after taking a short break from the weight room on Tuesday. “I just come out here and have fun.”

Yes, Seabold was right back at it, working toward next year. He knows he’s no secret now.

Before the season he was just a varsity rookie fighting for a starting spot. He was more known as being the younger brother of Connor Seabold, who has been having a fantastic season as the Friday night starter for Cal State Fullerton.

But as the high school season carried on, Cade Seabold made a name for himself with the Sailors.

“It blows me away,” the father Kirk Seabold said of his two sons. “I knew they were good ball players. Different body types and different players. They cover the spectrum. It’s fascinating. It’s pretty wild. I enjoy it. They give me more than I can possibly give them. I am obviously very proud of them.”

Kirk Seabold also said his youngest son, Carson, has been performing well as a fifth-grade student. Kirk Seabold stresses academics as a top priority for his sons.

They also have so many qualities from their mother.

Newport Harbor Coach Evan Chalmers described the mother, Erin Brown, as an overachiever, a team booster who showed her love for her sons at every game and every school event. She had a positive attitude amid her battle with the disease, and taught everyone in contact with her, including this writer, to appreciate life no matter the circumstances.

Cade Seabold said the brothers have been there for each other. Connor and Cade get along well and the older brother gives Cade some advice from time to time. Next season, Cade is slated to be a pitcher for Newport Harbor.

They’ve both had the ability to just play ball.

“She’s always in the back of our minds,” Cade said. “But when it comes time to play we play.”

And, boy, did Cade play.

During league, he racked up eight doubles, 17 singles and one big home run on Huntington Beach pitcher Hagen Danner. Cade’s on-base percentage was at .615 and he had an .804 slugging percentage in the Sunset League. He finished with a .507 batting average overall for the season for the Sailors (12-14), who finished fourth in the league at 7-8.

“His power is very big,” Coach Chalmers said of the up-and-coming star. “He can hit for power on the inside of the plate and outside. It’s hard to get pitches by him. He’s kind of a free swinger. He’ll take a shot at a curve when we don’t recommend it. So, the pitcher is nervous. Cade’s not afraid to take a hack at it. It makes for an uncomfortable pitching plan against him.”

Cade said he wants to work hard during the offseason because he knows the expectations will be high because of his breakout junior year. He also wants to play baseball on the NCAA Division I level.

“I just want to focus on next season and see where it takes me,” he said. “I know it’s going to have to be a big year.”